D.C. woman sentenced to 17 years for stabbing boyfriend

WASHINGTON – A D.C. woman was sentenced to 17 years in prison Friday in the stabbing death of her boyfriend.

Dominique Bassil, 26, of the 3900 block of 13th Street SE, was convicted in November of second-degree murder for the death of Vance Harris II.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Robert Morin also sentenced Bassil to five years of supervised release after her prison term, according to the office of U.S. District Attorney Ronald Machen Jr.

Machen’s office detailed the bloody crime in its statement:

The night Harris was killed, the couple had argued at a wedding in Maryland. Bassil told Harris, who was a member of the wedding party, that he was not spending enough time with her at the reception.

Later that evening, police found the pair on the side of a road in Capitol Heights, Md. Harris’ tuxedo was torn but police noticed no injuries to Bassil and her clothes were intact.

Bassil said that she was tired of fighting with Harris and the couple was allowed to continue home.

About 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 13, 2011, surveillance footage showed Bassil leaving her apartment building armed with a knife. She put the knife in a trash can and then walked to a security booth to report that she had stabbed her boyfriend.

Surveillance cameras captured Harris’ last moments as he stumbled through the apartment building, blood dripping from a stab wound that cut through his liver.

Harris died in the building’s hallway after knocking on a neighbor’s door for help.

The medical examiner determined he also suffered two stab wounds to his right arm, which partially severed an artery.

Bassil told police that Harris had pulled her hair, pushed her to the floor and dragged her. She complained of back pain but investigators found no evidence that she was injured.